The Wanton Misapplication of Song Lyrics
Today I came up with a term for one of my heretofore vague, nameless, yet very distressing pet peeves. Peeve, I dub thee "The Wanton Misapplication of Song Lyrics." Now I know what to call thee.
Occurrences of Wanton Misapplication are most frequently encountered when visiting a new, modern-style church. A few months ago we visited such a church. After the pastor's sermon, there was a multi-modal presentation: a young guitarist who sang while some sort of PowerPoint slideshow played on a huge screen behind him. The slide show had a bit of a plot, sort of like a silent movie unfolding behind the singer. The story of the slides was that of a young girl who dreams of being a dancer, encounters rejection, gives up, but then is encouraged to be who God has created her to be. She listens to the encouraging verses and dances her heart out. The theme of the pictures: Believe in Your Dreams. Don't Give Up.
What's wrong with that, you ask? It was the soundtrack: the 20-something guitarist was singing Switchfoot's Dare You To Move! If you've never listened to Dare You To Move, you might think this slideshow was aptly matched to its soundtrack. Dancing is moving, okay, I get it. And there's a dare... okay, a challenge to overcome obstacles. What's the problem?
The problem is, Dare You To Move is a powerful and emotional song about figuring out how to forgive yourself. It's not about being discouraged because someone else doesn't believe in you... it's about facing your failure and receiving grace because you need it, because you blew it. In a big, fat, public way.
Here's some excerpts from the lyrics:
I dare you to move,
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Like today never happened before
Welcome to the fallout
Welcome to resistance
The tension is here
Between who you are and who you could be
Between how it is and how it should be
Maybe redemption has stories to tell
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell
Where can you run to escape from yourself?
Where you gonna go? Where you gonna go?
Salvation is here.
I sat through that presentation registering a 8.5 on the Cringe-O-Meter. Yikes, dude! He's sitting up there with his guitar and his Jon-Foreman-soundalike voice, oh-so-cool, and he's just screaming, "Even though I've memorized these words, I have never listened to them! I am totally clueless and shallow! But look how cool I am with my guitar and my hair!" I hurt for him, I really did. While my eyes rolled.
Wanton Misapplication is not limited to church settings, though. Once, in college, I read an album review in the school newspaper. (Yes, I am that old. Music came out on albums when I was in college.) The review was for U2's The Joshua Tree. (One of the best albums ever. Evvv-vvver.) The reviewer spent an entire paragraph bowing to Bono's wisdom in With or Without You, where, he said, Bono declared his independence in stating that he "can live without or without" his lover.
Sigh. You know the song. You're shaking your head with me and saying, out loud, "No, no, NO! It's CAN"T! I CAN'T live with or without you! Bono is not a complete moron!"
So how about you? Do any of you have examples of The Wanton Misapplication of Song Lyrics? Blog about them and leave me a link.
Occurrences of Wanton Misapplication are most frequently encountered when visiting a new, modern-style church. A few months ago we visited such a church. After the pastor's sermon, there was a multi-modal presentation: a young guitarist who sang while some sort of PowerPoint slideshow played on a huge screen behind him. The slide show had a bit of a plot, sort of like a silent movie unfolding behind the singer. The story of the slides was that of a young girl who dreams of being a dancer, encounters rejection, gives up, but then is encouraged to be who God has created her to be. She listens to the encouraging verses and dances her heart out. The theme of the pictures: Believe in Your Dreams. Don't Give Up.
What's wrong with that, you ask? It was the soundtrack: the 20-something guitarist was singing Switchfoot's Dare You To Move! If you've never listened to Dare You To Move, you might think this slideshow was aptly matched to its soundtrack. Dancing is moving, okay, I get it. And there's a dare... okay, a challenge to overcome obstacles. What's the problem?
The problem is, Dare You To Move is a powerful and emotional song about figuring out how to forgive yourself. It's not about being discouraged because someone else doesn't believe in you... it's about facing your failure and receiving grace because you need it, because you blew it. In a big, fat, public way.
Here's some excerpts from the lyrics:
I dare you to move,
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Like today never happened before
Welcome to the fallout
Welcome to resistance
The tension is here
Between who you are and who you could be
Between how it is and how it should be
Maybe redemption has stories to tell
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell
Where can you run to escape from yourself?
Where you gonna go? Where you gonna go?
Salvation is here.
I sat through that presentation registering a 8.5 on the Cringe-O-Meter. Yikes, dude! He's sitting up there with his guitar and his Jon-Foreman-soundalike voice, oh-so-cool, and he's just screaming, "Even though I've memorized these words, I have never listened to them! I am totally clueless and shallow! But look how cool I am with my guitar and my hair!" I hurt for him, I really did. While my eyes rolled.
Wanton Misapplication is not limited to church settings, though. Once, in college, I read an album review in the school newspaper. (Yes, I am that old. Music came out on albums when I was in college.) The review was for U2's The Joshua Tree. (One of the best albums ever. Evvv-vvver.) The reviewer spent an entire paragraph bowing to Bono's wisdom in With or Without You, where, he said, Bono declared his independence in stating that he "can live without or without" his lover.
Sigh. You know the song. You're shaking your head with me and saying, out loud, "No, no, NO! It's CAN"T! I CAN'T live with or without you! Bono is not a complete moron!"
So how about you? Do any of you have examples of The Wanton Misapplication of Song Lyrics? Blog about them and leave me a link.
posted by Mamabird @ 9:23 AM
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